Just when you think hope is lost…

How about that finish?

Safe to say that if the end of September comes around and the Dodgers reach the postseason, this will be the game that everyone points to as the turning of the tide.

Of course, there’s still plenty of baseball to be played and a dramatic comeback of this nature doesn’t change the fact that we’re still two games under .500, which is going to have to change if we have any thoughts of reaching the playoffs, let alone advancing in them. But, this is a game where the team showed character and grit…

It’s just the sort of momentum we need going into Coors Field, where we have struggled of late, before heading home for a long homestand.

As for the question about first place ice cream – YES! – there will be some in the offices tomorrow and hopefully the next day, which would mean we picked up a game on the D-backs and moved into sole possesion of the top spot for the first time since April. Every little step is important and today’s game was as big as they get.

Our team is starting to gel! This was a big series v. the D-Backs with 2 huge wins. I know it’s tempting to “improve” the team with a new veteran player, but please take a serious pause before you trade away any young players. Their long-term value far exceeds the short-term value of most veterans you can trade for at this time. Dodger fans love these young players, and your lack of success with Jones, Schmidt, Loaiza, Hillenbrand, Berroa, Pierre, etc. leaves many of us fans scared. It’s the young players who are carrying this team!

I know SS is a position you are rightfully concerned about due to the fragility of Nomar, but be careful with what you may have to give up to swing a deal, when Ivan DeJesus is likely to field the position and deliver enough walks to hold the position if Nomar faulters. And you may feel that we need a bonafide closer since Saito has been injured, but if Broxton can’t do the job, please be careful what you have to give up for a “proven” closer. Please just lay low until July 30 without making an offer to any other team. That way you allow the other teams to come to you to dump their players, and you will have the leverage! At that time you may have a greater likelihood of swinging a deal for what you need, without having to surrender anyone on the 40 man roster.

jboydstun, I agree with you. Mr. Colletti, don’t trade off any of the kids. Loney, Laroche, Kemp, Dewitt, Russell, Ethier will be all stars before their careers are over. Let’s keem them in Dodger uniforms.

ANDRE ETHIER, ANDRE ETHIER, ANDRE ETHIER, ANDRE ETHIER – That’s what I heard in the car all the way home. I hadn’t checked on the game much past the 3rd inning. We were down 3-0 at the time, and I said my phone will let me know if we score. So, I went on a shopping (got some very good buys, BTW). No lie – we were getting sat a table for lunch and I hear my phone telling me there’s a text, so I’m thinking end of the game stats. So, I look on my phone to see that Andre was up to bat, no sooner than I sat down that my phone went off again, saying Andre Ethier batted in a run, and the Dodgers take the lead 5-4. And then to find out it was a triple was incredible. I was cheering in the restaurant. My family thinks I am crazy, but it’s okay – I am a Dodger fan you know- kind of comes with the territory these days. I just watched the clip and it was awesome. Then of course I had to watch all the other highlights of our boys having a fabulous come back win. I will watch the whole game in a little bit, but I just wanted to check in and say what a fabulous ending to a beautiful day – it was a great shopping day too. As for the beginning of my statement. We were listening to the SF radio station and they were talking about the gnats loss and the trade for Durham, and they were doing there the scores around the league and Andre’s name was said 3 times during the ride home. I am in a car with all gnat fans mind you, and this doesn’t happen too often in gnat country – Dodgers names mentioned when we are not even playing them. I did not say a word, I just relished in the fact that we won and were are not tied for first once again. :)

Amy – great win today, hon!! Our boys did a fantastic job!! I was worried about Andre after that first inning where he grounded out. That’s kind of why I turned off the game on my phone. I figured my phone would let me know when the Dodgers score and what not. Boy did my phone go crazy during that 9th inning!

Dnelly- it was amazing. Sara and I were commenting on the Close up of Dre just and the last out happened and he had the BIGGEST smile we’ve ever seen. Did you get that clip? I thought about you- it was lovely. Matt’s celebration when we got to 2nd, and then again after he scored was priceless :) I am so happy at the boys stepped up and made it happen. We were also saying how Matt learned from last night and made the adjustments. I am definetly proud of the way we played baseball. And they looked so happy and looked like a team, that’s the spirit we need to bring back into the ball club.
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I hope Russy’s head feels ok! (did you see that part?)

“The pressure was off of me,” Ethier said. “Kemp was the one that came up with the big hit to get us even. We had new life, a fresh start. I was able to get ahead and figured why not give it a shot ahead 2-0. I figured why not. Let’s take a chance.”

dnelly, I usually get almost all the Cowboy games here in the midwest. The ones I don’t get, I usually go to a friend’s house or to local restaurant to get it. there are a lot of Cowboy fans around the St. louis area. Where I worked, before I retired, we had 600 employees and there were probably 25 Cowboy fans and we used to get together at local bars that had the game on. The Skins will be tough as always, and should make some great Dallas/Washington games this year. I can’t wait to get started, but it’s always over so quickly. I wish they would extend the season to about 20 games.

Boblee – it’s going to be a great season!!
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Amy – I am watching the game here and there between normal house stuff, but I am sure it’s great. I saw Andre’s gun down at third – fabulous!! Nice bubble blowing, too, I might add.
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jboydstun – very well said!!!

Amy – I’m skipping to the 9th now.
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jungar – great stats – love to see those numbers, both good and bad. From what I heard so far from the dbacks announcers, they think Andruw needs to hang it up. Let’s hope the word gets over to Torre, at least to look at some serious benching time. Like you said – How can Torre sit Kemp or Ethier when Pierre comes back? Jones needs to ride some serious pine or needs to find another ailment to get him back on the DL.

Even Torre can’t possibly be thinking that Kemp or Ethier will sit when Pierre returns. That would be lunacy, not to mention wrecking what has become a great one-two punch to start the batting order. To all the Kemp and/or Ethier haters out there, glad you’re not the GM.

right on Kpookiemon. I think Kemp and Ethier have more than proved their value to this ball club. I can’t possibly see what else they’d have to do. I hope the outfield situation works out in the correct favor once JP comes back. I do want to see him play, but I want the players who deserve it the most to be out there!

Kahli – right on!!! Kemp and Ethier have nailed that one/two spot, and it’s working very well right now, and even when they have their off days (like Ethier yesterday), it’s just that – an off day. It will be very interesting to see how Torre handles JP and Andruw.
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Amy – mlb.tv had the dbacks version so I didn’t get to see the very end of the game :( It’s okay – I have seen that smile many times. Great pictures in the gallery today, too.

Amy..you didn’t offend me at all. I am not a regular poster here on ITD anymore and have not read it much since last season. I can see that your remarks are pretty harmless. I think I happened to read your entries out of context and misunderstood where you were coming from. I’m lucky enough to have spoken to most of the team at one time or another and think of them as “family.” I have so many autographed balls that I have given to my Dad: my newest is Cory Wade’s which I obtained the day he pitched so well. I also have Matt, Andre, James, Andy, Delwyn, Bills, Chan Ho, Kuroda, Russell, Nomar, Jeff plus Rick Monday, Steve Garvey, Wes Parker, sweet Lou Johnson, and the list goes on. They call me the autograph magnet but I have given all the balls away. I do have a baseball mitt I take to the games with Andre, James, and Matt’s autographs on it for good luck. I feel very fortunate. Maybe that’s why I am so protective of the guys. They are very vulnerable. All of them are very sweet sweet guys: James is a little shy, Andre always always speaks to everyone or nods to them. Russell is very intense, Matt is just a very nice personable guy with a great smile and hunky body. Matt, James and Andre never turn down anyone who wants an autograph. Russell seldom signs because he is too busy and it’s never one autograph…it’s twenty. I probably have had more conversation with Chan Ho who is absolutely a doll, very kind to the young fans and funny. So there you go…some insight into the players as people. :)

dnelly, glad you’re back online. thought about you when dre ripped his triple. that was clutch. he’s right on with his quote about matty’s hit though. i said it before, but matty’s at bat was incredible. just to foul off all that junk with two strikes on him, and wait for a pitch he can rip.. he was very mature in that at bat.. and let’s not forget andy coming up clutch off the bench to get matt up to the plate. the 9th inning was a team effort for sure..

andre always seems to have mature, educated quotes. i like his interviews. we have some good, young players.. i love them all!

Dnel- That picture of the triple that had Ozana diving for home is a cool moment. Do you remember earlier in the season when Matt got caught between 2nd and 3rd and he kept tripping and falling down, and he ended up crawling to 3rd and was safe?! That picture was also one of my favorites and a great/funny moment I have of Matt.

josh, were you able to pass on our messages to russell? there were some very nice things said, and i hope he appreciates the support, and that he knows there are many, many more fans of his who echo the same sentiments. i guess i was just wondering what his reaction was :)

I worry about the trade deadline…hurry up August and come. I’m afraid it would be Andre or Matt as silly as that sounds. Thank goodness they are batting so well. Last year, I know Matt and Andre were walking on thin ice. I’m glad they DFA’d Maza instead and brought Osuna up. Did everyone see how fast he is??? Wow. Poor Russell got banged up a bit: his knee took a beating and he took it on the chin. I think he saw stars. I’m sure he stays sore all the time and will have whip lash tomorrow. Poor thing. :( They need to rest him soon. Nomar has been a hitting robot. Two homeruns in one game. Maybe they’ll be satisfied with him for now. I don’t know about Lowe, he does not pitch well on the road. And Brad isn’t the ace that he was last year. He came back with a haircut and slimmer body but not with his consistent All Star pitching. They might consider trading both or one. Who knows what they’re thinking. They need to keep the core of Loney, Kemp, Ethier and Martin for the future of the Dodgers. All I know is that Russell is the only safe one.

I think I’m gonna catch a good-ol’ Dodgers-Giants game next week at the stadium. Haven’t been since (L.A.) Maddux beat (S.D.) Wells in September ’06, when Greg took a no-no into the late innings. The two teams I love to watch ’cause I love to hate ‘em are the Pads and Jints. Especially games against Frisco, the stadium is so electric.

Get all that living-in-NorCal frustration out… maybe even wear a t-shirt under my jersey “Hey Krukow and Kuiper: ELIMINATE THIS!!!”. Living in NorCal has just made me hate those Halloween colors even more.

I think we are all on the same page xoxo. I hate when Russell gets all banged up. I worry about him all the time. His position is so dangerous and in some games he gets hit over and over. Poor Russy.
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We do need our core. I believe they continue to prove themselves and they truly are our future to greatness.

Wow! xoxrussell – now, I’m jealous!! As for the comments, I probably over reacted a little. Obviously Andre is my favorite(putting it mildly) and has been ever since he came to LA, and I haven’t gotten to meet him yet, so I was just worried he would get the wrong impression of me if he reads this or if ever I was to meet him. I also post over on his blog,too and I have written letters (as a 1st grade teacher) to him. I think it was the 1st grade teacher part of me that was reacting, and not me, the obviously obsessive Andre Ethier fan who really, really wants to meet him someday. Amy is great and like, I think jhall said, she is very refreshing to have around here, and Amy – I am sorry for over reactling, and I think you are awesome!
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BTW – love the name xoxrussell – He’s my number #2 guy and then there’s James,too – those are my top three. :) Also, I am glad to hear that they are as sweet as they appear to be, which I didn’t really have any doubts about.

Amazing Wonderful Majestic 6 to 5 Victory by our Los Angeles Dodgers over the Arizona Diamondbacks! Russel Martin you were absolutely perfect at The All Sar Game! All the Dodgers were Super Heroes Today! Kryptonite Busting World Series Championship Victory is Our Los Angeles Dodgers Destiny in this Majestic Dodger Jubillee Year of 2008! By the Way Kryptonite, We all know you are in terrible fear after Superman Jeff Kent Hit His 10th HomeRun with his Rocket Blast Last Night and The Rest of His Super Hero Humble Teammates followed through With Their Humble Greatness as Even The Stars In Heaven Took Super Great Notice of The Super Greatness Of Our Wonderful, Super Hero Beloved Los Angeles Dodgers!

I still can’t believe they came from behind and won. The excitement of their victory makes it a little easier when I think about having to go back to work tomorrow. Mondays suck, but reliving the 9th inning in my mind will help cheer me up.

I understand. I really am a “sweet girl”. I never want to offend anyone for any reason. What I said was in the spirit of laughter. I do realize that this is a public fourm and we aren’t the only ones on it. Example- Josh actually responded to MY question tonight, so he is reading.
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I love this team and all of our members. Their best interest is also mine :)
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So I guess it’s behind us! You guys are awesome too :)

Hey sara – great game today – yes? Wow!! I can’t believe it’s one I missed – all the boys did awesome!!!
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Northstateblues – I hear you loud and clear!! It was so annoying hearing them all the way home today. The best part is hearing them tell us how the Dodgers did today. My family just rolls their eyes while I smile from ear to ear. You know it kills them. BTW – I ethier loved the picture!!! I still can’t believe I didn’t catch onto that. I can point out his name in any article no matter the length. I mean I did catch you writing ethier, but I certainly wasn’t thinking it was a clue.

BTW nelly and boblee, I am very pleased with the skins acquisition of Taylor today. This might not be such a long year for football after all. I still don’t think Taylor puts the skins ahead of Dallas, but I think he is a leap in the right direction. All in all, very nice day as far as sports go for me today.

dnel, yeah, i laid that clue in thinking people could guess… I was kinda nervous with that one, the hands look warped. I’m glad you enjoyed it, and I’ve been working on another drawing lately. Oh Captain, my Captain!

xoxorussell, thanks for the insight on the players. Wow, you’ve met a lot of them. It’s good to know that Plaschke was full of it when he was writing about how much these guys look at themselves in the mirror. Maybe Bill’s looking too much in the mirror hoping some hair’ll grow back.

swood – who’s your favorite football team? I don’t think Taylor puts the Skins ahead of Dallas ethier (either). All I know is that our division is never an easy one, and it doesn’t usually matter what place a certain team is in, each of them can beat the other any given Sunday. I am looking forward to seeing the Redskins in California this year.

xoxo- I still want to know if Matty got my (adult, professional, sweet, calm) letter. Would you still be able to ask him knowing that I (DO NOT) intend on marrying him? It would be nice to meet him again on a personal level though :-/
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Thanks :)

Good evening ndeschenes! It is always great to hear from you ~ it always means a Dodger win. I didn’t get to see the game live, but it was actually more fun seeing it later because I knew it would be a happy ending. Hopefully the Dodgers go into Colorado with the same game-winning attitude. Have a wonderful evening and a spectacular tomorrow, and we look forward to hearing from you after tomorrow’s game :)

Those of you who read the LA Times on a daily basis, do you like Plasche? I only see him on the show Around the Horn and he seems like a good sports writer. Although his show may not reflect how well he writes in the paper.

I am the Redskins fan, Boblee is the Cowboys fan. I have been a Redskins fan since I was 12/13 and I am 42 now. My parents were involved in Fantasy football before technology and they had the smurfs as the Special Team, and I immediately got attached to the team. I can still hear Joe Theisman’s knee crack when Lawrence Taylor (the original L.T.) tackled him. I always look forward to football season, but usually not as much as baseball season. I think part of that goes to the fact that football is only once a week and is not as long of a season. I do like the Chargers, too as a west coast favorite. I like the new L.T. :)

nelly-I am not sure about the Zourn “hiring”. I mean hes never been anything more than a quarterback coach in his career plus I don’t know if his offense fits our personell. My entire family is also Redskins fans. They like the hometown teams(as do I) but there was no baseball team in DC when my parents were growing up so they never really got into it. I think if the Nats had moved to DC about 5 years earlier I would definately be a Nats fan.

swood – your projections could be right – hmmm!! I am sure Boblee won’t be upset with that one – lol!!! Once we get into post season, and the Redskins are out and the Chargers are out, I will usually go for any team in our division. I think it’s always one of the toughest in the game. So, yes I wanted the Giants to win the Superbowl in the end.

Swood, I thiink Plaschke does a good job on football and basketball, but I rarely agree with what he writes about the Dodgers. I do think he’s a good writer, just don’t agree with his take on the Dodgers. He’s too pro-vet.

I like Plaschke overall, swood. He’s a great writer. I don’t always like what he writes about, but regardless of what he writes about, I’m usually talking about it with my dad that day. “Did you read what Plaschke wrote?”

I like him on Around the Horn. Takes a lot of shots for being a homer, and I just have to smirk when he’s trying to convince Reali, Mariotti and Woody that, for example, UCLA is going to take the NCAA Basketball Championship hands-down on April 17th.

I have been to a few Redskins games before. I went to the Cardinals game with my uncle last season. I havent been to the new Nats ballpark yet but I plan to go to all 3 dodgers games there at the end of August. I honestly don’t have much interest in the Nats, but I hear the ballpark is very convenient for the Metro.

I keep hoping against hope that if Wilbon and Kornheiser vacation again, that they’ll have a Plaschke/Adande PTI for one episode on ESPN. It would definitely help them get that east-coast-bias monkey off their backs.

xoxrussell-I’m not farmiliar with TJ Siemers. Responding to your earlier question, the search is going well, right now im looking at USC, Pepperdine, University of San Diego(the catholic one), UVA and possibly Vanderbilt. My backups are likely Clemson and FSU.

No, teaching in general is not easy, and I am saying that for anyone that has that role, even like you in summer camp or eric with the scouts. It’s really the politics getting in the way more than the kids. The government is punishing the good teachers,coaches, leaders for the few that aren’t doing their job. I just happen to be at a school that is doing pretty good for it’s demographics with test scores, so for now, I can do baseball, shows and such because they haven’t taken that away from us yet. I actually started teaching in 4th grade (which is still my favorite as far as curriculum because of the science and California history), but I am a better fit for 1st because I have the patience and I am definitely the mom type, which fits for this age group. Now that I am comfortable teaching this age group, I love it!!! I thought in the beginning “I am responsible to teach them how to read – Oh my goodness” Goodness was not the word I was using – lol!!

T.J. is a bit of a jerk, but he’s pretty high on the Dodgers right now. latimes.com just posted his Page 2 article from tomorrow. Here’s a snipet:

–v–T.J.–v–
IT PROBABLY wasn’t a good sign the other night for LuisMaza or Angel Berroa when Torre sent in pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo to pinch-hit to lead off the seventh inning, the Dodgers down by a run and Maza, Berroa and LaRoche still available to hit.

Torre later explained he had only one pinch-hitter left on his bench, LaRoche.

When asked what about Maza and Berroa, he said he had only one pinch-hitter left. Ouch.

bluecrewgirl – I was sitting down to have lunch and Andre was up to bat – I was watching gameday on my phone. I had read that Matt got the double and the next thing you know my text message light and sound comes on and it tells me Andre Ethier batted in a run – 5-4 Dodgers – I was yelling in the restaurant – it was great!!! And then I found out later it was a triple – He had hit one out there every night during this series and it was caught the first two nights, but not tonight obviously.

DNelly – That reminds me of last year when he hit the big home run in Chicago. I was at lunch with a guy I work with who is one of my Dodger buddies and a client and they had the game on tv. Our client is a big Dodger fan too, so we were all excited.

That was an awesome win! I had gone outside for a bit after the 5th, and checked the computer to see we were up 6-4 in the bottom of the Ninth. Just listened to the 9th on the Gameday Audio archive, and I hope Charley Steiner’s voice is doing okay.

bluecrewgirl – It seems like I always miss his really big days. On the day he hit the homerun out of AT&T park, I thought my son was kidding and missed it – I am very thankful for mlb.tv and highlight reels.

Simers is not only meanspirited, he’s inaccurate. He attributed a Andruw Jones error to Matt Kemp in his first column of the series to make a ‘point’ about Kemp doing ‘bad’ (the error) and ‘good’ (the game tying homerun). Does he not have an editor? Also, Coletti, I reiterate what others have said: don’t blow up the core of this team for the next ten years for more overpriced unproductive veterans. I think you should be able to see by now, that throwing money at those kinds of players doesn’t work; don’t compound that by throwing our future away as well. If not for the Dodgers’ sake, think about your own future. I mean what’s Kevin Malone doing now? Just askin’, is all…

Lowe was horrible right out of the box, but he didn’t get a lot of help in that inning either. On that rundown play, Kent was covering first with Nomar running Hudson (I think) back to first. Kent bailed out of position which left Nomar trying to make a tag. Hudson made it back to first safely. I don’t think it really affected the scoring, but it was embarrassing play. I couldn’t figure out why Kent left. Weird.

Andre made a great throw to get an out at third, and Nomar made one of the great relay throws ever. He had to leap to catch Jones’ throw from center and fired a one-hop laser to Russ, who was doing his usual Scioscia impression. It had to be perfect and it was.

I have to say that Nomar is doing very well since he returned. He’s hitting well over .300 and while I haven’t seen all the games, it seems like he’s fielding the position well enough.

I want to throw out a HUGE “ATTAGIRL” to amy. I jumped on the site somewhere around the 6th or 7th only to find more crying and quitting than I could believe. Amy was holding down the fort, telling everyone to stay positive. Way to go, amy! You can play for me anytime!

Great post Eric!! I wasn’t here for the game, but I watched the mlb.tv version and watched the good parts. It was a fabulous game at the end. It sounds like the articles coming out seem to be pretty positive, too, which that is a good sign as well of maybe things changing a little bit.

What a great win today! Ned and Joe, please take note of who produced this victory as well as most of the recent victories. These are the players who need to be RETAINED and PLAYED. Most of the fans here have known all along that the young guys would produce if given the proper chance, and that is why it has been SO FRUSTRATING for us to watch you guys block their paths and bench them when they are the ones that are both the present and the future for the Dodgers. They have proven themselves, and now it’s time for you guys to prove yourselves. We will definitely see if you two get it by two things. For Ned, it will be NOT TRADING any of the young roster talent. For Joe, it will be PLAYING the young guys when Pierre returns. If Ethier and Kemp are displaced in the batting order by Pierre, it will be clear that Joe doesn’t get it. And Frank, you need to hold Ned and Joe accountable for their actions. You have the young talent to win. Don’t waste your money on more veterans that ARE NOT NEEDED.

I get a lot of the Arizona articles automatically because Andre is from there, and his named is tagged on my google alert. There were about 4 more from the same paper, but that one seemed to sum it up best – dbacks lost!!!!!

Just one two notes about tonight’s fabulous win. First, redfox is absolutely correct. Ned/Joe–please heed this sage advice.
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Second, someone mentioned that it takes until the bullpen comes in for us to score. That might have meant until our bullpen comes in, but if you meant until the other side’s bullpen comes in, that’s the idea. Scoring against a Brandon Webb is a tough task. So you score against the bullpen. Now, the idea is to work the pitcher hard enough that the bullpen comes on sooner, but however it works out, the key is to take advantage of the opportunity. We may not have done much for 8 innings, but when we got the opportunity, we took advantage, and that’s how it is supposed to work. That’s what championship teams do.

Fire Joe
Fire the guy who hired Joe
Fire the guy who hired the guy who hired Joe

Goooooood morning ITD!!!

Right on lee, as usual! Yesterday puts an exclamation point on what I’ve been saying for years – that it’s a bad move to yank a starter who has the other team by the neck merely to increase your closer’s save total. It may not have been the case yesterday, as it appeared that Webb was tiring, but many, many times it IS.

Coming from behind creates a great team spirit. I hope that we don’t lose that spirit by dropping the series in Colorado.

BTW – It’s a very good thing to hear Kemp and Ethier mentioned on ESPN as the ones who tied the game and had the go ahead RBI – very nice to the ears!! They definitely are a nice one,two punch. Joe really needs to keep it that way!!!

Great series for the kids as well as Nomar. Jones is toast who doesn’t “get it” with his lack of effort on fly balls. Geeze! at least play good defense while you’re looking like you’ve never seen a baseball before at the plate! Colletti probably still looking for excuses to get a “vet” in there at 3B even though Blake SAVED the game on Friday with his outstanding play with 2 outs and a man on 3B snagging that hard grounder to his backhand side and making a great throw to Loney, who subsequently took that momentum into the right field seats for the game winner!

I understand if they feel as if they don’t need to get a shortstop (I wish they’d fix the censorship issue for the abbreviation of “a shortstop”), but I really don’t understand the rumors of their interest in a 3B. If they are concerned with DeWitt’s lack of punch, stick LaRoche in there for a while. And I don’t mean two games. Give him a shot, for Pete’s sake.

BTW, are you the originator of the “Fire Joe” sequence? Although I use it all the time, I didn’t coin the thing. I think it’s you.

Good morning friends!
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Thank you for your comments Eric. Yea, It was terrible last night, everyone was saying how bad this team is and how no one can play ball. Then after the win, they were like “I knew we could do it”..how terrible it was. You can’t give up on your team no matter what. If we were SD fans and we were 2 games under .500 we would still be cheering for them cause they’d be our team! It’s what good fans do.
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And to everyone here. I like to read TJ articles. They always provide me with a good laugh. And the last 2 articles have been pretty right on, especially backing up everything we’ve been saying on this blog. My favorite, from Sunday “Maybe Ned should take a vacation and not return until the after the trade deadline- and he should take Andruw Jones with him”. I think he is on our side more times than not.
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Hey guys… amazing comeback last night…. This team is on a high right now that seems like it could reel off about 8 or 9 in a row. It’d be great if we could get a foothold on the division and just run away with it. We usually win 2 out of 3 in Denver… so, let’s hope for the best 3… haha These guys showed a lot of heart last night and I can only hope that they can carry it over and build some chemistry and consistency. The starting pitching has got to STOP giving up 3 runs at a time, and allow us to be in the game from the get go. Go Dodgers… and LET’S SCALE THE ROCKIES FOR 3!!

sounds awesome. I wish I could be home watching sports highlights! But, my Dad and I watch them every nite and we TIVO PTI. It’s an afterwork ritual. Did you watch the ESPYS last night? I had a good laugh, gotta love my boy Justin! Sports are just wonderful. I wish I wasn’t retired, but I gotta make a living at the same time! Welcome to adulthood Amy :(

Brandon – it really sucks to miss the good ones, especially when the young players do such a good job as they did yesterday.
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Amy – it’s just summer vacation for me, and it’s disappearing really fast right now. Eventhough I am not supposed to report back until August 11th, I will start making my way back this week (Monday and Tuesday), and then I will be there full time by next week. I like to have plenty of time to get all the ideas I have in my head onto the boards, etc!! I have seven bulletin boards to put up between now and then. It takes about a day each because of my perfectionist attitude when it comes to classroom environment. My baseball wall is still up but will definitely need to be updated because of the changes in standings since June 4th.

brandon – lol!! I have never had my phone make me so nervous in my whole life. All I kept thinking when Andre was up – “Please hit the ball,Please hit the ball”, and then the light for my message alert came on, and I knew something good happened!!

Dnelly- did you read my post that says my mom also an elementary school teacher. She’s taught kindergarten for as many years as I remember, but the principals gave her 2nd grade this year. That means she is working on a Dodger themed bulletin board too! She will use the pictures we took on the field this year. It’s a cool concept that you guys are able to make it your own.
she’s home gathering stuff for the 2nd grade.

Amy – I did see that!! I have plenty of Dodger things in the classroom, but my baseball board is mostly focusing on geography and baseball so I use all the teams. I have pennants that represent each team and they are ranked just like the standings, so in some cases it changes daily. I also have a map in the middle that shows the students where all the teams are located. Around the map are pictures from all teams, both new and old. My goal this year is to focus on writing and biographies and using players for that purpose. As far as Dodgers represented in the classroom – Dodger blue is definitely noticed. I even had parents make me Dodger things, including a coat/backpack rack painted in the perfect Dodger blue with Dodger baseball and baseballs all over it. On my desk is pretty much a Dodger shrine, primarily with pictures of Andre. Considering I live in gnat country, everyone so far really loves it, and most parents like to see what you as an adult are like too.

brandon – believe it or not, shopping isn’t one of my favorite things, especially with teenage children. However, it was a good day for shopping – great weather, great buys, the Dodgers won and the gnats lost. I definitely had nothing to complain about yesterday.

That’s cool that you guys are able to bring that flare into the classroom. My mom is definetly not a superfan, but she did call me up yesterday so we can plan what game we are going to on the next homestand. My mom is one of my Dodger buddies, that’s one of the way in which we bond. I love this team!
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Lets sweep the Rockies. We own that team!

hahaha… So, you guys realize right that the schedule is REALLY in our favor to create some space between ourselves and the Snakes…. We get the Rockies and they get the Cubs!! I like our chances this week.

For those of you who continue to call for the Dodgers to trade Kemp, citing his ‘impatience’ and failure in clutch situations:

*He continues to lead the team in RBIs, despite leading off a lot lately.
*He’s 19 for 46 (.413) swinging at the first pitch
*He’s 13 for 28 (.464) with the count 1 – 0
*He’s 15 for 34 (.441) with the count 0 – 1
*He’s 14 for 31 (.452) with the count 1 – 1
*He’s 5 for 37 (.135) with the count 0 – 2
*He’s 8 for 57 (.140) with the count 1 – 2
*He’s 13 for 62 (.210) with the count 0 – 2
*He’s 8 for 34 (.235) with the count full
(The other count situations are 11 AB or less. Might want to rethink the whole ‘stretch the count’ thing a little)
*He’s 27 for 92 (.293) w/RISP (.285 overall)
*He’s 4 for 11 (.364) runner on third, less than 2 out
*He’s 8 for 26 (.308) runner on third, 2 out
*He’s 23 years old, he JUST MIGHT GET BETTER

Amy – you and I are alot alike – My mom is my Dodger buddy, but she is the original super fan – has been my whole life. I might have surpassed her, but not by much. Living with gnat fans, I have her to talk to about Dodger stuff when I am not on here – lol!!! She does read this blog, and has fun reading it :)

Dnel- It’s also funny cause I dated a guy from Daly City for many years. I lived up there in the Bay and also was around a lot of giant fans. I had a little taste, you’re surrounded by it everyday!
That’s why you have us, Dodgers til the end :)

Good morning true blue faithful!!! Great stats Eric. Glad you had a great day shopping Nelly.
Heck of a win last night. Very sweet to take that series in their house. Keep winning series’ and good things will happen. Ten or eleven more days of holding our breath hoping they don’t let Ned orchestrate one of his disasterous deals. Don’t do anything Ned, no deal is most often the best deal.. Unless you can unload Phew!!!!!

mornin my Jhall :) I hope he gets rehabed soon and can come back to me. I miss those high knee socks and the batting helmet that looks like its too big for him!
Besides that, he is close to Matt, and we want to keep the Bison happy so he’ll continue to produce- and I don’t mean that with jp in the line up produce- I mean moral support! Bigger picture here!

Good Afternoon, son – Beav is supposed to return home tomorrow. He had mentioned coming back by Tuesday. Hopefully he is having a good time with Lumpy, and hoping he doens’t get himself into trouble. LOL!!!

Amy, I think Kemp is just humoring JP so he doesn’t cry to his mama again. You just keep your pretty little eyes on Matty boy and ignore that skinny excuse of a baseball player next to him and pecking his brain for lead off tips.

LOL!!!! You guys,scott and eric, are making it hard to be good :) I really want him to stay on the DL until after August 3rd. I want to see Andre play the whole time when I’m there – I know it’s a team thing, but still – it won’t be the same. I know – whine, whine , whine. LOL!!!

Hey everyone,
Hope you all had a great week, I missed the ITD gang!!
Eric how was your time in Lake Tahoe???? was it smokey?? I just got back yesterday and it was AWESOME!! Except the first day which was smokey (last Sunday).
Whats with the “Leave it to Beaver” talk?? That was my favorite show growing up…

I am great Dnel, nothing like a week of relaxing and forgetting what an alarm clock is!!! LOL
Jhall thanks for holding down the fort!
So what have I missed?? and what is up with the D’s actually considering bringing back Sweeney?????

lol. I wont believe it! Pierre is a great guy and ballplayer. You all know that he is not even close to the worst. He is consistent hard and hard working and Matt respects him as a man and for his talent!

I’m glad you had a good trip, jnv, and yes, I am really pulling for Andre so it’s hard to think of JP in there instead, not to mention it’s totally wrong and unjustified unless Andruw becomes the one that sits.

JOJO can’t possibly displace Matt or Andre with the way they are playing, I would bet either his knee has a relapse or he is traded. Either way would work.
Eric,
Sorry to hear about your trip, it was great after last Sunday with blue sky and perfect weather from Monday until Saturday. We went kayaking, hiking, swimming and even went to Virginia City and toured an old mine. Pretty cool trip.

LMAO!!! jhall – so true!!! That’s how this whole thing got started,jnv. We got in troube for using bad language here, but it was misguided blame – joeyp and friends were the culprits, and somehow it ended up being our fault,and enchanted got the worst of it. That feels like a long time ago, jhall.
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Amy – Andre likes JP, too, but Andre still wants to play, and so do I. I am really hoping Andruw does the sitting, but I guess we will have to wait and see.

Exactly DNelly- I love our Matt, Andre, Piernas outfield. They are friends and look good together :) Yea, if Jones plays I want JP to be alternate. We are on the same page!! Jones gets to flu and comes out anyway. JP can come in and save the day :)

Amy, Amy, Amy….Everyone works hard. If Juan is putting in extra work, he’s wasting his time because if all that work only adds up to his pathetic play, then extra work is over rated I’m afraid. There are lot’s of “nice guys” in this world who aren’t pulling down 9 million a year you know. Let’s not feel sorry for someone that is set for life.

Amy, you’re a great fan, so I won’t bug you any more! – and I want an invite to You and Matt’s wedding!

LMKO!!! jnv – some of us have even been practicing our latin because of this – jhall!! enchanted and eric have resorted to cussing in numbers and we have changed many letters in our laugh out louds as to not offend others. LOL!!!

hello guys…i have a question
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first off i am not a fan of ned, and i would like to see white in there, but heres my question
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we have all been calling for logan and rightfully so, but what if logan white was named the gm like this week and he went ahead and traded kemp or eithier or loney or kershaw…would we accept it because it was logan and we trust him or would we still be outraged
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just something i was thinkning about
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tomorrow…NEWS FLASH…DODGERS FIRE NED COLLETTI AND HIRE LOGAN WHITE.
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wednesday…NEWS FLASH… DODGERS TRADE MATT KEMP, OR ANDRE ETHIER, OR JAMES LONEY.
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.thoughts anyone.

manfromchina- we just want this all to be over and have all our our boys in tact. It’s hard to know what really goes on from the inside, but we do know that positive changes need to be made, and no quick fixes- those never seem to work.

amy, Electroglide In Blue was a counter-culture movie made in the early 70’s. It was forever in the drive-ins as a second feature. It starred Robert Blake as a motorcycle cop out in the desert. A SHORT motorcycle cop. The start of the movie has the camera panning along a row of cops in their motorcop gear and helmets. The camera hits a gap in their heads, goes back to the gap and then down to Blake. A bit later he’s trying to impress a couple of hot chicks that are taller than him by saying that Alan Ladd was only 5′ 4″ or something like that………geez, now I’m gonna hafta explain who Alan Ladd was, aren’t I?

Scott – I think you are right about Logan – you would hope he sees what this young Dodger group can do, and he is seeing that the other teams want them. Don’t trade something the other teams want – it means you have something that’s valuable – a future dynasty team!

haha. Oh my, that’s way before my time. I can picture a line up with one short dude. I have a picture on me and Juan at DS, and he is taller than I am. I am 5’8′. He’s not that short, he’s just thin and always looks like his clothes are too baggy. Russy isn’t very tall either- so short jokes probably shouldn’t apply!!

Thanks Amy and Dnel
As for the comment about White trading away one of the kids, I would look at Logan Whites “body” of work and figure if anyone can make a trade worth while it would be him. Nerd couldn’t trade a block of gold for a stick of gum without giving up something else in return. He is just like the kid on the playground that has no friends and is willing to give up his entire lunch for a half eaten rotten apple just so other kids would like him.

Quote To Note: “It doesn’t matter who the coach is. The coach never goes to the plate, and the coach never goes to the mound. The coach doesn’t play the game, and to put it on anybody except the players is unfair.”—Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti, on his club’s underachieving offense and the possible impact Don Mattingly will have after assuming full-time hitting coach duties at the start of the second half.

It’s fair to blame Torre because he makes the lineup!! And let’s not kid ourselves, the only reason the lineups have been good lately is because JP is on the D,L and he’s not leading off. Andruw’s another story, but when JP comes back, the lineups will change – Torre’s got a man crush on JP and he will lead off. I really hope I’m wrong because Andre and Matt are going to suffer the most, along with the entire team if Torre doesn’t bench Andruw when JP comes back.

On the Ned comment – I think the fans are letting Andruw know just how unfair it is that he is out there. Ned – are you listening to the fans? We can hear them booing on television, too. However, it’s Torre’s job to bench him, not the other players, and that’s unfair to the players that are trying to win a game.

I’ve told this story before, but while we’re beating a dead horse………..

While watching a game during the dark days of Pierre in left and Andruw in center and (usually) Ethier on the bench, my 84-year-old-diehard-Dodger-fan mother asked me, “Isn’t the object of the game to win? If so, why don’t we put our best players in the game?”

I agree with you guys…. Torre’s had to have figured out who his best players are at this point. Now, I don’t know that it would be a bad thing to have Pierre back in the lineup… but only because he can steal some bases…. But I think I kind of like Kemp in the leadoff spot… Kind of like a Soriano type of deal…. So, when Pierre does come back, i’d not be too surprised to see him leap into the 8 hole… Baseball is all about consistency… and winning consistently…. well, if we’re winning consistently then you don’t want to mess up what has been working. Which in this case is the lineup that we field now… They seem to be working.

I know scott, I do too – but I was trying to be somewhat realistic, but I see eric’s comment and I would have to agree with him. It’s the man crush Joe has for Pierre right now, and I don’t picture him putting JP anywhere but lead off ethier (either).
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eric – about Raffy – I am working on a song about our long lost, but not forgotten hero. So, I still think about him often and where we really could be if he were with the team.

This team has really started to click since Pierre went on the DL. Either keep him there, trade him, or use him as a pinch runner. DY should play over little Juan, at least he can throw, and keep base runners in check. To mess with what is working is stupid.

The lineup that we’ve used lately only has one flaw…. That’s what happens when Nomar gets hurt? I say when and not if…. I’d love to see him stay healthy and keep playing at the level that he is…. But we all know deep down the chances of him getting hurt are very high. I love Nomar when he’s healthy he is a great player… but when he’s hurt he’s no help to us. On a side note…. we’re through if our pitching does not come back around… It does not matter who does what or when or how or where, if we keep giving up 3 runs an inning from our starters… we’re in trouble. We have to have a good start by Stults tonight… if not, we will have to out slug the Rox… which, they’re loaded with power.

This series and the schedule following is a GREAT chance for us to open up a lead on the d-backs… they’ve got a really hard schedule for the next few games, ours a little easier. Then we play them again head to head at the end of the month at home… If we could open up a 3 or 4 game lead that would be great.

“I know Ned [Colletti, general manager] is on the phone, trying to make our club better,” Torre said. “Chances are, we’ll be active. Having said that, we’re trying.”

Colletti said Saturday that the shortage of` available shortstop candidates to replace the injured Rafael Furcal prompted him to expand the search to include a run-producing third baseman before the July 31 trade deadline.
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We don’t need a third baseman at this point Nedster. Just have Joe put in Laroche for 10 days without taking him out or pinch hitting for him and lets see what he can do in that length of time. If he doesn’t step up, then see what we can get in a trade. Ned is just trade happy. He doesn’t care if he improves the team, ( as past performance shows), he just wants to deal.
As Dr Phil says, the best indication of future performance is past performance and Ned sucks at this.
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Ned, just don’t trade the kids. Get rid of Pierre, who needs him. Look what Kemp and Ethier have been doing. They will only get better. Pierre has gotten as good as he’s going to get which isn’t much. Are you listening Nedster?

Now somewhere in the black mining hills of LA
There lived a young boy named Neddy Colletti
And one day he walked up to JD Drew
Asked him was he gonna stick around,
He said, “You bet I am”
But his agent was Scott Boros and he
Booked himself a room in the local saloon.

“JD” he said, “you’ll make some more bread
If you tell Ned Colletti to shove it.
Outfielders are weak, who told you to speak?
You’re killing my agent’s percentage.
The Red Sox are rich, leave Ned in the ditch
I’ll get you more millions, I do pledge.
So Scott and JD, they called up Franky
And told them just where he could stick it.
Now Neddy was pissed, he looked at the list
Of free agent outfielders remaining
Now Juanpy burst in and grinning a grin
He said Neddyboy, I’m your best man here
Now Neddy was stuck, his head’s in the muck
And Juanpy was signed to a new contract.

Now the owner came in, and grinning a grin
And proceeded to lie to the media
He said, “Juanpy, he is the best
He works so hard and he has such a zest
And he only cost me $55 million dollars.

Now Juanpy he’s hurt, Andre is no squirt
He’s knocking the crap out of THE ball
But now Juanpy is well, bid Andre farewell
‘Cause the Dodger’s manager is Joe Torre.

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